Tenants: "Let J-51 "R.I.P."

J-51 is on life support. The 56 year-old abatement program, which began as an incentive to help landlords transition from cold to hot water pipes, officially died on December 31, 2011, when its legal enactment expired.

New York landlords reacted in disbelief and began lobbying Albany with the organized support of The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) to reinstate the costly giveback. On Thursday, January 20, landlords and members of REBNY gathered inside the Hilton Hotel for their lavish annual meeting.

Outside the hotel, our members rallied back, arguing that the state cannot afford this expensive program. Chanting “We are the 99 percent” to the sounds of whistles and drums, Make the Road NY, Housing Conservation Coordinators and the Real Rent Reform (R3) campaign turned out hundreds of tenants who braced the cold to rally at the hotel and let all who attended the REBNY’s annual gala know that J-51 would not be renewed without a fight.

“The Senate has not really expressed an interest in reviving this,” said Michael McKee, treasurer of Tenants Political Action Committee. According to McKee, renewing J-51 is not something the State Legislature is fixated with at the moment. However, given its renewal is one of REBNY’s key priorities, it is likely only a matter of time before it becomes an issue.

According to the New York City Department of Finance, more than 39,000 apartment buildings across the five boroughs were a part of the J-51 program as of January last year. Owners of properties in the J-51 program pay considerably lower taxes to the City of New York. Some estimates put the cost of the program in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The cost of the program must be considered in light of the other pressing needs of the city’s supply of affordable housing. Indeed, in recent years, J-51 has less been focused on essential updates to core building systems and more on creating upscale properties that would be attractive to more affluent residents.

Tenants will continue to argue that limited public resources should be spent in a more direct way that guarantee true affordability goals are being met.